CONCEPT
The Democratic Paradox
Mouffe's diagnosis that liberal democracy rests on an irresolvable tension between its liberal logic (rights, pluralism, rule of law) and its democratic logic (popular sovereignty, majority rule) — a tension to be sustained, not resolved.
The central argument of The Democratic Paradox (2000). Liberal democracy is the historical fusion of two distinct traditions: the liberal emphasis on individual rights, the protection of minorities, and the rule of law; and the democratic emphasis on popular sovereignty, collective self-governance, and equality. The two logics point in different directions. Liberalism protects the individual against the collective. Democracy empowers the collective over the individual. Resolve the tension in favor of liberalism and you get technocracy — government by experts unaccountable to popular will. Resolve it in favor of democracy and you get tyranny of the majority. The health of the democratic system depends on maintaining the tension rather than resolving it.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The paradox illuminates why the pursuit of consensus is dangerous. A genuine consensus between the two logics is impossible; what presents itself as consensus is always the victory of one logic over the other, concealed by the